WelshDevilRob Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Holyfield: A Retrospective It would be a tall order to think of a heavyweight fighter that had the level of courage to match five time champion, Evander 'Real Deal' Holyfield. Written by Lee Skavydis Born in Alabama in 1962, Holyfield began boxing when he turned 12 years old. By the time he reached 15, Holyfield won the The Best Boxer award by competing in the Southeastern Regional championship tournament and represented his home country of the USA at the Pan Am games in Venezuela, winning a silver medal, losing to Pablo Romero on points. But more medals were calling his name when Holyfield captured a bronze in 1984 when he participated in the Summer Olympics Games in California. November 15th, 1984 saw Holyfield make his pro debut in the light-heavyweight division, winning a six round decision over Lionel Byarm. After racking up eight KO's in only eleven fights, Holyfield faced Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA cruiserweight crown after moving to the higher weight division in 1985. After a tough bruising battle, Holyfield won his first world title, beating Qawi by way of a split decision. After making several defences against the likes of Henry Tillman, who would later face Mike Tyson, and having yet another world title, the IBF, in his possession, Qawi was desperate to regain the crown that was once his and acquire the bonus of the IBF title. However, that was not to be as he was knocked out inside four rounds in 1987, having been dropped twice. Qawi fought for the cruiserweight title yet again in 1989 and lost to Robert Daniels for the WBA crown that Holyfield relinquished. Read More: http://www.ringnews24.com/index.php/boxing-news/60183-holyfield-a-retrospective.html#ixzz22yLI0JSJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemurphy Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 This is one of the best pieces RN24 has put out, it's hard to believe we have Lee Skavydis with us on a daily basis, he's as good as they come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 This is one of the best pieces RN24 has put out, it's hard to believe we have Lee Skavydis with us on a daily basis, he's as good as they come. What do you mean "hard to believe"? Have you been talking to Deontay Wilder? mlol/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skav Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 This is one of the best pieces RN24 has put out, it's hard to believe we have Lee Skavydis with us on a daily basis, he's as good as they come. Thanks for the compliments, Dave, much appreciated. LOL@ Rob. mlol/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Its at Cruiserweight that Holyfield impressed me most. The wins over Qawi, Tillman, Parkey, DeLeon. He fought his style in those fights and though he tried often to fight the same way at Heavyweight he obviously struggled against the bigger men. At Cruiser he was a Shooting Star! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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